Today I'm grateful for the sunshine pouring in before the storm; for hot, sweet, creamy coffee warming me from the inside out and waking my brain and body; for so very many little everyday things.

And I'm grateful for technology.

​Tech often gets a bad rap in natural living circles, and it can certainly be problematic when it forces us to feel available round the clock or sucks us in late at night. But what about the blessings of tech? If it weren't for tech I wouldn't be able to do grad school and work from home - and home/unschool my daughter. If it weren't for tech, my entire life would be different! Tech facilitates our ability to live an earth-centered life and to be together. It provides a third choice between the extremes of back-to-the-land, off-grid independence and corporate fealty. I aspire to create enough location-independent work that someday I can spend winters in a warmer place!! Imagine working in an internet cafe a block or so off the beach... sipping from a fresh coconut...

But in the meantime, I'm grateful for the privilege to have, to build, and to aspire...

And as I write, I hear sounds of Spanish language wafting in from Helena's bedroom where she's engaged in a live, online Spanish class with other homeschoolers around the nation. Tech is such a huge boon to her learning!

Tech can certainly be an amazing addition to our lives when we use it to serve our needs rather than being enslaved to it. It's something I'm ever grateful for!

I'm grateful first, always, for my daughter Helena. Her name means light and she offers her radiance to the world through a heart of love and kindness, a creatively brilliant mind, and a soul that cares deeply for each furry critter. I'm grateful for the furry friends we share our lives with, their unique personalities that add spice to our days: two dogs and a rat.

I'm grateful for rambunctious Brittany Sam who can run 9 miles through the woods at 11.5 years old and come home itching for more adventure, Sam who lives to smell-all-the-smells and for whom polar plunges in icy waters are a way of life, Sam who uses his paw to direct your hand to give him belly rubs.

I'm grateful for Lilly's calm cuddley nature and her happy wagging tail that's won her the nickname "Lil' Miss Lilly-whipper" or "Lilla-whip". I'm grateful that we found her - or maybe she found us - bringing more love and joy into our home so unexpectedly. I'm grateful that she loves to drink healing herbs and eat veggie scraps and is becoming healthier by the day.

I'm grateful for the rodent. While I don't hold the same fondness for her as for our canine companions, she is admittedly quite adorable, passionate about almonds, and adds great joy to Helena's life.

I'm grateful for our new sunlight-filled home, closer to everything, filled with beauty, books, music, laughter, and most of all LOVE!

Rebecca Grace Andrews

Welcome! Here are my thoughts on herbalism, unschooling, autoimmune diseases, nature connectedness, homesteading, and sustainable choices, based on my graduate studies in herbalism, ecotherapy, and psychology and living the life that I love! Check out the website as well!